Philadelphia Union Academy teams put in a perfect weekend

Three different opponents all met the same fate in games against the Philadelphia Union Academy over the weekend as the Union U18, U16, U14, U13 and U12 teams outscored opponents 20-2 in six wins.

Tiger Graham struck with his 18th goal of the season in the 13th minute against Seacoast United while Darius Lewis added to the lead just after halftime in a game the U18s held on to win 2-0. Jahmali Waite and Matthew Freese combined on the clean sheet in goal for the team’s second straight shutout.

The win was particularly meaningful with New York Red Bulls falling 4-0 to Bethesda SC on the road, putting the Union three points clear at the top of the Atlantic Division standings with a game still in hand against their rivals.

At 12-2-2, the U18s now also top the overall league table based on points per game (Orlando City is second with a 20-4-1 mark).

The U16 team was on the positive end of a seven-goal affair in their game against Seacoast United in New Hampshire on Saturday.

Chad Letts opened the scoring for the visitors in the third minute while Liam O’Brien and Aziz Saidi each scored twice in the second half after subbing on, canceling out the home team’s comeback bids with goals from Hamza Ewiess in the 59th minute and Galen Lewis in the 68th.

After making his debut last week, academy newcomer Andres Sanchez had his first start, playing 48 minutes of the 80-minute match while Kristopher Shakes and Eoin Gawronski shared goalkeeping duties.

With the win, the U16s kept pace with Atlantic Division leaders Baltimore Armour, improving their record to 8-3-4, eight points behind the leaders with three games in hand.

The U14 and U13 teams both traveled to Brooklyn for matches on Sunday against BW Gottschee, which both ended in identical 1-0 score lines.

Tianshuo Yang scored the lone goal for the U14s in the 16th minute and Chay Kaplan picked up the clean sheet in goal.

Jason Barragan had the game-winner in the 9th minute for the U13s and Aiden Elvidge the clean sheet.

The U12s picked up 4-0 and 7-0 wins over Lehigh Valley United at home on Saturday. Nelson Pierre had a brace and Logan Oliver and Julian Pittaoulis added goals in the first match. In the second game, Ian Abbey and Marcello Mazzola each had braces and Sawyer Koza, Timothy Madden and Nicolas Rubio added goals.